Posted on 12/22/2005 2:44:54 AM PST by F14 Pilot
In calling the Holocaust "a myth," as he did last week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has drunk from the bloody cup shared by the malevolent enemies of equality and justice, the ultra right-wingers and haters who live in history's shadows.
Need it be said, again? The gas chambers, the bureaucratic system of murder, the efforts to sever an entire people from their place in this world, did happen, did exist and remains a unifying cause for those who choose justice, now and forever more.
This latest outburst gives the Bush administration a second opportunity to send a strong message in support of Israel and of the global community, and to make a clear statement against bigotry and hatred. This time, President Bush should not let the moment pass as he did after Ahmadinejad called for Israel to be "wiped off the map" in an October 28 hate-filled speech.
Ahmadinejad's denial of the Holocaust and his denigration of an important ally and close friend of America was an outrage. But so, too, was the tepid American response.
The Bush administration which so often answers challenges with confrontational language took this occasion to whisper. With the exception of America's ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, who denounced the remarks as "pernicious and unacceptable," the Bush administration explained those comments as if they had been uttered by a crazy relative and then returned to its talking points on Iran's nuclear weapons program.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice noted widespread condemnation of the remarks, but did not offer condemnation of her own: "When the president of one country says that another country should be wiped off the face of the map in violation of all of the norms of the United Nations... it has to be taken seriously.... There has been widespread condemnation of this statement and it only demonstrates why we're working so hard to keep Iran from getting technologies that would lead to a nuclear weapon."
The State Department's spokesman, Sean McCormack, anemically noted that Ahmadinejad's statement "reconfirms what we have been saying... and I think it underscores our concern as well as the international community's concern about Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons."
President Bush's press secretary, Scott McClellan, told reporters matter-of-factly that, "Many leaders in the international community have spoken out about the comments that were made."
But Bush was not among them. Not a single word of disapproval passed the president's lips.
The lesson of the last century and more is clear: Acts of hatred often follow words of hatred, and the best way to head off hideous deeds is to respond swiftly and with certainty. Instead of explaining away Iran's behavior, or scoring minor tactical points, it is time to let the antisemites know that Americans will not tolerate their calls for violence or especially grievous insults to history.
Let me explain my outrage. I grew up under a dictatorship, in Mozambique. Grown-ups could not speak out against the repression and injustice that surrounded us. But since leaving, I have demonstrated and marched against tyranny and hate.
I began my formal work against antisemitism in 1977, when I joined the Congressional Wives for Soviet Jewry, a group I would later co-chair. It was an honor to meet and stand with Refuseniks like Ida Nudel, Judith Rattner, Vladimir Slepak, Natan Sharansky and so many others. I visited Russia many times, and met with people who had been systematically and sometimes brutally repressed. I learned from them that when we say "never again," we have to mean it.
Jonathan Sacks, the chief rabbi of Great Britain, has compared antisemitism to a virus, surviving through millennia by mutating: religious anti-Judaism into racial antisemitism, and now antisemitism morphing into anti-Zionism. Whatever the rationalization its adherents hide behind, though, antisemitism has always had at its heart the same things: bigotry and hate and fear.
The only way to prevent the virus from surviving and spreading is to attack, killing it with the strongest possible condemnations before it has a chance to mutate and spread. In October, Bush missed a chance to do that. Now he has a second chance to speak out. I hope he will take it.
It is time for Iran to be confronted by a unified, outraged and outspoken Bush administration, an administration that feels and dispenses the cleansing heat that such virulent words deserve.
Teresa Heinz Kerry is the wife of Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts
You should see her up close. She is NOT a nice person. I have seen her be nasty and rude to service people, to volunteers at charity events. Trust me, she is not nice to them.
O.K. What am I missing here?
I'm pro-Israel and she sounds like she is very pro-Israel also. Do my Freepers buddies have a problem with that? So, it's the Teresa Heinz-Kerry witch standing up for Israel. Someone has to because the Bush Administration sure as heck is not doing it.
I've supported GW in every election since he ran for Texas Governor the first time but, I'll tell you right now, the Bush Administration's attitude toward Israel has really got me pissed off. That is the only draw-back I have in going full-force supporting Condi for Prez in '08. I truly believe she has the best chance of beating any Dem, including Hildebeast. But, if she doesn't change her milque toast attitude toward Israel, she can count many of us Pro-Israel Conservatives out. (She ain't that conservative anyhow.)
There truly is a resemblance there. LOL.
loooooooooooooooooooooooooooool
I understand your anger but Nazis were ultra right wing fascists!
She only carried the Kerry name during the campaign, she has since dropped it, can't imagine why can you!!!
Do you think they have separate bank accounts?
By the way, I wonder whatever happened to Kerry's $6,000,000 mortgage. He can't even pay the interest on his salary and it's illegal for her to pay it.
Maybe the bank is just forgiving the loan and spreading it out over the rest of it's mortgagees.
For later reading.
You are wrong. Read in history books. Don;t
just accept the crap the DimoSocialists spew.
The "NAZIs" were the NSDAP
National Socialist *Democratic* Workers PartyA Vert much LEFTIST DEMOCRAT SOCIALIST Fascist party.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERnazi.htm
They may not have been communisys, but they *were*
both doctrinely based in socialism.
and fascist socialism at that. *They* knew "what
was best" for everybody *else*, just like the present
day US DemoLefties.
I have no idea what her stance is. I just like to make fun of her "gin soaked raisins" cure.
Lying Traitor's besotted wifey dispenses knowledge and folk medicine ...al at the same time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Whyyyyyyyyyyyyy are we still stuck with that Moonie, Laura Bush? (/s)
Go back to your gin soaked raisin Teresa - outburts like yours are why America doesn't trust Kerry to handle foreign policy.
How sad this article couldn't be entitled:
"The Well-received Silence of Ter-Ay-zuh Heinz Kerry"
Yet another reason Kerry lost; you shouldn't let your wife speak in public when she's been drinking...
Since she's dropped the 'Kerry', do we now just call him Senator John?
Great post.
If I'm interested in hearing what an withered-up old drunk has to say; I'll visit the bus station.
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